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Damen, California Blue Line Stations to Be Closed For Weeks in Fall

 The Damen and California Blue Line stations will be closed over a series of weeks starting this fall.
The Damen and California Blue Line stations will be closed over a series of weeks starting this fall.
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DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser

CHICAGO — The Damen and California Blue Line stations will both be closed over a series of weeks as a part of the CTA's remake of the O'Hare branch of the 'L.'

The Damen stop will be closed over the course of 63 days and the California stop will be closed for 42 days, according to Tammy Chase, an agency spokeswoman.

The closures, which will start sometime in August, won't overlap with one another and will be completed by Jan. 15 at the latest.

The closures are part of a broader $492 million project to improve service along the O'Hare branch of the Blue Line.

The CTA is expected to present the construction schedule in fall. That will include alternative transportation options, which may include increased service of the No. 56 Milwaukee bus, Chase said.

Ajani Bennett, 29, was headed to work from the Damen Blue Line station Friday morning when learned of  the closures.

"It will affect me a lot," Bennett said. "I mean, that's my daily commute."

But Bennett, who takes the Blue Line to a bus to get to work in Humboldt Park, said he is no stranger to dealing with long-lasting CTA closures.

While the Damen shut down will likely be inconvenient, Bennett said, he went through the extensive Red Line closures last year and thought the CTA's shuttle buses worked well.

"They did a good job on that," he said.

This week, the CTA released a first look at improvements planned for the Damen, Western and California stops.

The Western station, which will receive less extensive upgrades compared to the other two stations, will remain open during the fall.

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